Variable-speed power transmission.



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7mm V. MESSER, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 FELLOWS DIRECT POWER TRANSMISSION C0., OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF Specification of Letters Patent.

VARIABLE-SPEED POWER TRANSMISSION.

Application :tiled April 2, 1909. Serial No. 487,587.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that l, VLADIMIR V. MESSER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful improvement in Variable- Speed Power lTransmission, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the intermittent grip type of power transmission in which a circular wheel, with which an oscillating pawl engages to turn the wheel forward, is revolved by thev said pawl, the amount of oscillatory movement of which pawl is varied in order to vary the velocity of the driven machinery.

lt is well known that in order to transmit the power from one shaft rotating at a uni-` form velocity, to another shaft to be rotated also with a uniform velocity, that the engagements between the two shafts must be of such a nature as not to disturb the uniformity of the velocities of either shaft, in order to avoid hammering effects produced by the irregularities of the velocities. ln other words, the angular velocity of both shafts at any given moment should have the same ratio, andthe angles through which both shafts pass in any period of time should have the same ratio mentioned above. This is accomplished in mostgear or belt transmissions, but has not been accomplished in a ratchet mechanism where the oscillating A pawl is driven by a crank pin so faras l am aware. ln such a case the pawl 'moves at a varying speed in each stroke like the crosshead of a reciprocating engine and thus imparts irregular motion to the driven shaft, and .if the driven shaft has any momentum it will result ina hammering effect on the connecting link and ratchet, rendering the mechanism impracticable and short-lived. Attempts have been made to overcome this diiiiculty by increasing the number Vof ratchets so as to make each ratchet work in the middle of itsstroke whilev it travels at maximum speed, but it is plainly seen that such expedient not only'complic'ates themachine, but does not remove vthe cause of trouble, and only minimizes the effect of it to a certain extent.

The object of my invention is to provide mechanism' for imparting uniformA velocity t0 the pawl driven by a crank pin of adriv-` ing shaft, .and produce aperfectiy rotative motion without hammering effect on the ratchet or connecting links. l attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1,.represents the side view ,of the mechanism. Fig. 2 is a side View of the arm Afor varying the amount of travel of pawls. Fig. 3 is across sect-ion of the driving mechanism on the line A-A of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a cross section of thedriven shaft on the line B-B of Fig. 1, and' Fig. 5 shows a top view of pawls, also the reversingmechamsm.

Similar` letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The driving shaft 1 is mounted lin the bearing 11 and is operated -by gear 29 which is connected with the motor, not shown. A disk 2 is pressed on the shaft 1 and has `a saddle 30 in its periphery to receive bearings 5 for'an eccentric pin 3, the eccentricity of which should be about one-twentieth of the distance between the centerline of the shaft 1 and that of the bearings 5. A spur gear 7 is secured to the inner end of the pin 3 by means of a key 6.and meshes with a spur gear 8. '.lhe gear 8 has twice as many teeth as lthe gear 7, and is secured to the main frame by 'means of cap screws 410, so lwhen the shaft 1 revolves, the crank 4, which forms an integral part ofthe pin 3, rotates with the pin 3, since the gear 8 is stationary, and the crank 4 thus makes twice as many turns as the shaft 1. 'lhe eccentricity of the crank 4 with relation to the axis of the pin 3 is Patented Nov. 2c, raie;

such that when the pin 4 passes through the dead centers C and D, see Fig. 1, it is in the farthest position from the axis of the shaft 1, and Vwhen at points E'or F which are on a vline perpendicular to the line passing through the dead centers C and D, the pin 4 is in its closest position to the axis of shaft 1. The crank pin 4'describes an oval curve resembling an ellipse, shown on Fig. 1 in dot-ted line C E D F. When the ratio between the throw of eccentric pin 4 is equal to about live per cent vof the distance between the center line of the shaft 1 and .the-axis of the .pin 3, then the amount of reciprocating movement of the pin 4 in the direction of the linev C D is so close in .proportion to fthe-angles through which the shaft 1 passes, that if the distance C D Vequals lfifteen inches the reciprocating movement in the said direction in the length 'of the travel of the crank within forty-five degrees on each side of the line E F never leaves the point that would be traveling between said points at a uniform speed for 5 more than one-hundredth part of an inch, if all the distances are taken "in the direction of the line C D. The crank 4 isl connected with a pin 13 of a rocker'arm 14,by means of a link 12. The rocker arm 14 swings on a. shaft 31 supported by a bearing 17. A `slide 15 on the rocker arm 14 engages a screw 32, which is turned by means of a hand wheel24 supported by a bracket 22 and connected with the screw 32 by means of two universal joints 18 and 21 anda telescopic link formed by a rod 2O which is slidably received by a socket `sleeve 19. -This arrangemenlt ipermits the working of the screw 32 when the arm 14 is in motion. The screw 32 while turning moves the slide 15 up or down asv the case may be and regulates the amount of travel of the pin 16 to which are attached links and 26 which latter are directly 25- connected with pawl spiders- 33 and 34 respectively. The pawl spiders are loosely mounted on shaft the middle part of which is threaded and key seated to receive a bearing disk 36 having rings- 37 which form wearin surfaces to receive the pressure of Apaw s 38 vwhich are revoluble on pins 39. The metal in the pawls 38 is so arranged that ther center of ravity of the pawl is on the center line 'of t e bore made for the pins 39 to avoid the influence of inertia on the working of springs 40 and 41. Said springs are inserted between lugs 52 and 53 on the pawls 38 and caps 40 and 41 which slide in The rings 44 are mounte on the outside in place by means of rings 45 bolted to the pawl spiders by bolts 46'. On the inner side of the ring 44 there are notches 42 which fit on the outside of the caps 40or 41, as the case may be. InvFig. 1 part of the ring 44 is broken away in order to show the location of one of the pawls viewed in the direction of the driven shaft. The rings 44 are'pro- -vided for reversing the direction of rotation of the disk 36 which is accomplished by turning handle 56 in order to force thecaps 40 out of the notches 42 and receiving the caps 41 into same notches, whereby more pressure is brought to bear on the lugs 52 of the pawls 38 than on the lugs 53', which causes the pawls to turn and be ready to engage the disk 36 when the pawl spiders, while oscillating, run in the opposite direction.

The action of the pawls is similar to that of a toggle joint, so far as the gaining of pressure is concerned. The friction between 65 the pawls and the disk 36 is produced autoholes 54 and 55 of the pawl s iders 33 and 34.

matically the moment the pawl spidersv 33 Vor 34 move .in the direction shown by the arrows in Fig. 5, the initial friction between the pawls and thel ring 37 being produced by the difference of the tension of the springs received by the caps 40 and 41 one of which two is always in the notches 42 of the ringv 43. The pressure of the friction pawls .38 is transferred to the adjusting nuts 49 on the ends of the shaft by means of cone shaped/steel rollers 48 which bear on a steel race 47 on one side and a nut 49 on the other., The nuts 49 are introduced for adjustment purposes when the pawls 38 wear out. The adjustment is made by turning the nuts 49 and inserting a key 50 in` one of the several key seats provided on the shaft for the purpose. The key is fastened by means of set screws 51. A set of rolls 48 is provided to facilitate the disengagement of the pawls at the end of the stroke.

The accompanying drawings show the'de'- tails of my invention for producing a uniform speed reciprocatingimtion. In order to use the mechanism for power transmission purposes, there shouldbe two cranks with crankV pins 4 located ninety degrees apart, mounted on'the same shaft 1 and the transmitting mechanism` shown in Figs. 1

and 4 should be duplicated also, in order to 95 produce a continuous turning eifect to revolve the shaft 35 on which two disks should be mounted,Y one for ach of the two crank pins 4. This arrangenent, which is a mere duplication of the me hanism just described,

is so well known in the art and commonly employed in intermittent power, transmissions that illustration or detailed description thereof would be superfluous.

What I claim is 1.l In a' power transmission, a rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, a crank connected with the oscillatory device, and means for imparting a combined axial and bodily rotation to said crank, whereby the driven element is'caused to rotate at a substantially uniform speed throughout a revolution.

2. In a power transmission, a rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for op- 115V erating the driven element, a crank connected with the oscillatory device, and means for operating said crank and causing its pin y to move in an oval orbit, whereby thedriven element is caused to rotate at a substantially 180 uniform speed throughout a revolution.

3. In a power transmission, a rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, a crank connect- -ed with the oscillatory device, and means for operating said crank and causing its vpin to move in an oval orbit with .the major axisof the orbit substantially in line w1th the line `of. movement of the oscillatory device,l

whereby Athe driven el'ementis caused to ro- 12o tate at a substantially uniform speed throughout a revolution. 1

4. In a power transmission, a" rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, and means operating in an elliptical orbit connected with the oscillatory device for operating the same, whereby the driven element is caused to rotate at a substantially uniform speed throughout a revolution.

5. In a power transmission, a rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, a main crank, an auxiliary crank mounted on the main crank,

" and connected to the oscillatory device,

means for revolvin the main crank and thereby causing bodily rotation of t-he. auX- iliary crank, and means for axially rotating the auxiliary crank.

6. In a power transm1ss1on, a rotary driven element, an osclllat-ory device for operating the driven element, a main crank, an

auxiliary crank on the main crank connected with the oscillatory device, and means for causing the auxiliary crank to rotate axially twice during each bodily rotation thereof, whereby the driven element is caused to rotate at a substantially uniform speed throughout a revolution.

7. In a power transmission, a rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, a shaft, a mam crank thereon, an auxiliary crank and connected to the oscillatory device on the main crank, a stationary gear concentric with the main shaft, and a gear on the auxiliary crank meshing 'with the first gear.

8. I n a power transmission, a l rotary driven element, an oscillatory device for operating the driven element, a shaft, a main crank thereon, an auxiliary crank and connected to the oscillatory device on the main crank, a stationary gear concentric with the main shaft, and a gear half the diameter of the irst gear on the auxiliary crank meshing with the first year.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 26th day of March 1909.

VLADIMIR V. MESSER.

In presence of- G. T. HACKLEY, FRANK L. A. GRAHAM. 

